Born Aug. 13, 1936 in South Gate, Calif., Darryl Greenamyer — test pilot, race pilot, and speed record holder in piston and jet aircraft — took his last flight Oct. 1, 2018. A funeral Mass was held for Greenamyer at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Palm Desert.

He had an adventurer’s personality, was focused and had a gift to accomplish incredible tasks that most people wouldn’t have the determination and resolve to even attempt in the first place! He earned a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Arizona in 1958. He served with the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard, accumulating more than 1,000 hours of flight time in the F-86 Sabre, the F-100 Super Sabre and the F-104 Starfighter. He went to work with Lockheed and Kelly Johnson’s ‘Skunkworks’ in 1961, flying the SR-71 Blackbird and YF-12. He was the fifth person to fly Kelly Johnson’s Blackbird. He graduated the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in 1963.

In 1969, he set the absolute speed record for propeller aircraft of 483-mph, flying a highly modified F8F Bearcat with clipped wings, reduced to about 27.5-feet from their original 35-feet, 10-inch size. The Bearcat was powered with a modified Pratt & Whitney R-2800 and a specially designed front cover was constructed to accept the oversized propeller from an AD-1 Skyraider. The size of the prop left little ground clearance, about three inches, and made three-point landings and take-offs a must.

The Society of Experimental Test Pilots recognized Greenamyer for outstanding professional accomplishment in the conduct of flight-testing, specifically for the record flight, with an Iven C. Kincheloe Award in 1970.

In 1976, Darryl assembled a Starfighter from parts collected from various sources and obtained a civilian registration of N104RB ‘Red Baron.’ It was basically called a homebuilt! The wings and tail were from an F-104G, the fuselage was from a structural test item, and the reaction control system came from a NF-104.

The U.S. Navy let him “borrow” a J79-GE-10A engine, to which a water-injection system was added. He attempted to set the 3-5 kilometer absolute speed record in October 1976 at Mud Lake, Tonopah, Nev., and a speed of 1,010 mph was measured — however, one timing camera failed and so did the attempt that year. His father had filed mining claims across the lakebed on the proposed course, so he was flying over land where permission, by his dad, had been granted. This aircraft was sponsored by Ed Browning and the Red Baron Flying Service of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The following year, another attempt was made on October 24, 1977, which resulted in a new record of 988.26mph.

In 2002, Darryl entered and won first place in the newly formed Sport Class at the Reno National Championship Air Races with his Lancair Legacy, painted very much like his F-104RB. His unofficial speed was approximately 340mph, but was reduced to the 328mph mark due to a 14-second penalty that was assessed for missing a pylon early in the race.

Besides working on his Lancair Legacy for the Reno Air Races, Darryl had been quietly rebuilding his Grumman F7F Tigercat.

After making a trade with the U.S. Marine Corps Museum, he ferried the rare Grumman ‘T-Cat’ from Quantico, VA to Ramona Airport, then flew it to his ranch. After a few years, he disassembled the aircraft and kept it in storage.

Of the 364 F7F’s Grumman built, only a handful of them remain in airworthy condition today. I like the folding wings just outboard of the big radial engines and the tall nose gear really caught my eye. The airplane is much larger than you might think. Wingspan is 51-feet, 6-inches; fuselage length is 45-feet, 4.5-inches and the height is 16-feet, 7-inches.

Gisela, Darryl’s wife, told me that she helped Darryl bring all of the Tigercat parts on a trailer to their hangar and she watched him and his friend, Dick Welsh, put it back together again.

Grumman built the Tigercat in 1941, to be a fleet interceptor and long-range attack aircraft for the U.S. Navy. It was the first twin-engine fighter aircraft to enter service with the Navy.

Two powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder radial piston engines, developing 2,100 horsepower each, allows the F7F to reach speeds over 435 miles per hour.

An interesting bit of trivia is the Tigercat was originally named the “Tomcat,” but the name was rejected for being too suggestive. Funny, it wasn’t too suggestive for the F-14! The Tigercat didn’t see combat service in World War II, but it was used at the beginning of the Korean conflict as a night-fighter and photo reconnaissance aircraft with the U.S. Marine Corps, until being replaced by the Douglas F3D Skyknight. They were withdrawn from service in 1954.

Over a three year period, from 1993 to 1995, Greenamyer led a retrieval crew for the B-29 Keebird stranded in Northwest Greenland that unfortunately ended with a tragic fire.

Greenamyer was one of the great aviation icons of our time. Along with his wife, family and many friends, we are deeply saddened at his passing.